Another summer has come and gone, which means another Thanksgiving season is upon us. To say that it is a Canadian’s favourite holiday may be a bit of an understatement. There is nothing more Canadian, nothing that says Canada, more than turkeys and Grey Cups.
Now, as Canadians, we never quite know what we will get. Our holidays are ALWAYS weather dependent. For Thanksgiving, we may be in sweaters or we may be in shorts; it’s hard to call. One thing is for certain, nothing pleases us more than good food, good drinks, and good friends and family. And, of course, a little conversation. To help with that this year, we at Kaleidoscope give you some fun factoids to keep that Thanksgiving dinner convo rolling. Gobble Gobble!!!
- The first Canadian Thanksgiving is said to have traced back to 1578 with explorer Martin Frobisher. He had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean and held his Thanksgiving celebration, not for harvest, but in thanks for surviving the long journey from England through the perils of storms and icebergs. On his final voyage to the far north, Frobisher held a formal ceremony in Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island (present-day Nunavut) to give thanks to God and, in a service ministered by the preacher Robert Wolfall, they celebrated Communion.
- With the exception of the Atlantic provinces of Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Thanksgiving is now a statutory holiday in most jurisdictions of Canada.
- During Thanksgiving 2023, 2.5 million whole turkeys were purchased by Canadians, equal to 36% of all whole turkeys that were sold over the year.
- Turkey consumption can cause sleepiness due to its tryptophan content. Tryptophan is a naturally occurring amino acid used by the human body to create serotonin, a hormone which relaxes you and promotes slow-wave sleep.
- The breaking of the wishbone tradition originated when the ancient Romans pulled apart chicken bones looking for good luck. The English adopted it in the 16th century and then, in the New World, Pilgrims played tug-of-war with wild turkey bones .
The actual “wishbone” term emerged in the 1800’s. - Kitchener-Waterloo holds their “Oktoberfest parade” on Thanksgiving Monday.
- Columbus Day in the US and Thanksgiving in Canada have fallen around the same time since 1971.
